Ara Peterson (b. 1973, Boston, MA) lives and works in Providence, RI. Peterson’s practice occupies a unique intersection of digital calculation and hand-crafted materiality, producing sculptural works that are simultaneously mechanical and sensorial. His large-scale wood sculptures translate wave algorithms into three-dimensional forms. Each wood slat is laser-cut according to these interpretive algorithms, hand-painted, and assembled vertically to create compositions that trace colliding waves of information at varying frequencies. The resulting structures combine color, repetition, and rhythm to evoke both kinetic energy and optical intensity, bridging the digital and the analogue.

As Franklin Melendez, curator and writer, writes: “Peterson’s arresting three-dimensional objects fall somewhere between painting, sculpture, and architecture. The somewhat outmoded practice of a ‘bas-relief’ comes to mind, but these structures transcend ornamentation—they are as much about optical clairvoyance as they are about process. Each piece begins with wave formations that translate the artist’s mental image into a basic form, interpreted algorithmically and then realized manually through painted wooden slats. The hypnotic striations may recall white noise or the undulations of a computer screen, yet the works speak as much to Minimalism’s seriality as to the rich modular logic of Sol Lewitt. In their precise, labor-intensive assembly, Peterson’s sculptures trace the modulation of perception itself, moving between historical legacies and contemporary material experience.”

Peterson’s work has been exhibited at The Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles), The Garage Center for Contemporary Culture (Moscow), Bergen Kunsthalle (Bergen), P.S.1 MOMA (New York) with solo exhibitions at Derek Eller Gallery (New York), Ratio 3 (San Francisco), Loyal Gallery (Malmö), Deitch Projects (New York), and John Connelly Presents (New York). Significant group exhibitions incouce Electric Op, curated by Tina Ryan, AKG Art Museum (Buffalo, NY), The Bellport Anarchist Society, curated by Barry McGee, Auto Body (Long Island, NY), At Home, curated by Dan Nadel, Launch F18 (New York), and The Optical Unconscious, curated by Bob Nickas, Kunst(Zeug)Haus (Rapperswil-Jona, Switzerland). His work is held in major collections including the Museum of Modern Art (New York), Albright-Knox Art Gallery (Buffalo, NY), RISD Museum (Providence, RI), Deste Foundation Centre for Contemporary Art (Athens), and the Progressive Art Collection (Cleveland), Berkeley Museum of Art and Pacific Film Archive, University of California Berkeley. As a founding member of the art and performance group Forcefield (1996–2003), Peterson participated in the 2002 Whitney Biennial and in landmark exhibitions such as What Nerve! Alternative Figures in American Art, 1960 to the Present at the RISD Museum (Providence, RI) and Matthew Marks Gallery (New York).

Solo Exhibitions

2020
Glass Eye, Scooters for Peace, Tokyo, Japan

2016
Ara Peterson, Derek Eller Gallery, New York, NY

2013
Wavepacks. Ratio 3, San Francisco, CA

2012
Neon Gray. LOYAL, Malmö, Sweden

2009
Turns Into Stone. Ratio 3, San Francisco, CA

2007
Arcade, John Connelly Presents, Positions, Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami, FL
Multidimensional Warp. Ratio 3, San Francisco, CA
Ara Peterson’s Energy Fields, curated by Douglass Freed, Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO

2006
Wotcha. John Connelly Presents, New York, NY

2005
The Wedge. Ratio 3, San Francisco, CA

Group Exhibitions

2025
Material Instinct, Post Times, New York, NY

2024
Electric Op, Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo, NY

2020
The Hundredth Exhibition, Loyal, Stockholm, Sweden

2019
Post Analog Studio, The Hole, New York, NY
Vinyls & Clips, Sound Collection Guy, Schraenen & clips d’artistes, Frac Franche-Comté, Besancon, France

2016
Art Basel Film Sector curated by David Gryn, Art Basel Miami Beach
CDCDDCDCDCDD: Brian Belott, Ara Peterson, Constance Tenvik, Steina & Woody Vasulka, LOYAL, Stockholm, Sweden
DFW, Slow Culture, Los Angeles, CA
Ruth Laskey, Ara Peterson, Noam Rappaport, Ratio 3, San Francisco, CA
At Home, curated by Dan Nadel, Launch F18, New York, NY

2015
Exposition Providence, curated by Jonas Delaborde, MIAM Musée International des Arts Modestes Sete, France
What Nerve! Alternative Figures in American Art, 1960 to the Present, RISD Museum, Providence, RI (travelled Matthew Marks, New York)
The Bellport Anarchist Society, Curated by Barry McGee, Auto Body, Bellport, NY

2014
Das Optische Unbewusste / The Optical Unconscious, curated by Bob Nickas, Kunst(Zeug)Haus, Rapperswil, Switzerland
This is Our Music, David Risley Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
A Massive Swelling, Mudguts, Brooklyn, NY

2013
Locally Made, Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence, RI
Pattern: Follow The Rules. Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, East Lansing, MI
Xstraction. The Hole NYC, New York, NY

2012
Transmission LA. The Geffen Contemporary, MoCA, Los Angeles, CA
Abstract Realities. The Studios, Key West, FL

2011
New York Minute. Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, GCCC, Moscow, Russia
Dadarhea. Canada, New York, NY

2010
PortugalArte10. Portugal Arte, Lisbon, Portugal
Ashes to Ashes. AMP, Athens, Greece
Borderland Abstraction. Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha, NE

2009
Topographies. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
New York Minute: 60 Artists on the New York Scene, MACRO Museum, Rome, Italy
Liberation Upon Contact. Ratio 3, San Francisco, CA
The Wynwood Walls. Miami, FL
Galaxy: A Hundred or So Stars Visible to the Naked Eye. UC, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA

2008
It Ain’t Fair. O.H.W.O.W, Miami, FL
Materialized: New American Video and…. Bergen Kunsthalle, Bergen, Norway
Constraction. Deitch Projects, New York, NY

2007
Alpha. Ratio 3, San Francisco, CA
Deaf ”From the audible to the visible” II. Galerie Frank Elbaz, Paris, France

2006
Music is a Better Noise. P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center/Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Cosmic Wonder, with Jim Drain, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
The 59th Minute: Video Art on the NBC Astrovision by Panasonic, Times Square, New York (Mar 7-Jun 5), organized by Creative Time, New York, NY
The Gallery Show. Extra City Center for Contemporary Art, Antwerp, Belgium
Slow Burn. Galerie Edward Mitterand, Geneva, Switzerland
Panic Room. The Deste Foundation Centre for Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece

2005
Hypnogoogia. Deitch Projects, installation with Jim Drain, New York, NY
Extreme Abstraction. Albright-Knox in collaboration with Deitch Projects, Buffalo, NY
The Jeweleigha Set. Greene Naftali Gallery, New York, NY
Seventh Annual Altoids Curiosly Strong Collections, various locations

2004
Wiggin Village, installation with Jim Drain, The Moore Space, Miami, FL
Color Wheel Oblivion, Marella Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy
The Transparent Eyeball, Liverpool Biennale, Liverpool, England
Curious Crystals of Unusual Purity, P.S. 1 / Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Collection (or how I spent my year), P.S. 1 / Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Tedious Limbs Exhibit, Flynn Farm. Los Angeles, CA
Domestic Porn, Foksal Gallery Foundation, Warsaw, Poland

2003
Group Show, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York, NY
Bizarre Love Triangle, with Jim Drain + Eamon Brown, The Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, PA
It Happened Tomorrow, with Jim Drain + Eamon Brown, Biennale d’arte contemporian De Lyon, Lyon, France
Window installation with Jim Drain, H.P.France:Bjoux, Tokyo Station, Japan
Piled high, Hanna hp grp, Tokyo, Japan
Regarding Amy, installation with Jim Drain, Green Naftali Gallery, New York, NY
Karaoki Death Machine, Daniel Reich Gallery, New York, NY
Paper Rodeo Group Show, Space 1026, Philadelphia, PA

2002
The Kids are Alright, curated by Joe Bradley, ATM Gallery, New York, NY
Group show, as Forcefield, Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago, IL
Flashpapers, as Forcefield, Daniel Reich Gallery, New York, NY
Third Annual Roggabogga, as Forcefield, 2002 Biennial Exhibition, Whitney Museum, New York, NY

Commissions

2001
Forcefield, Parlour Projects, Brooklyn, NY

2016
TCH Energy Corridor, Houston Texas

2014
Embassy of the United States, Vientiane Laos
Hall Wines, St. Helena, California

Collections

Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
Berkeley Museum of Art and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA
The Deitch Archive, New York, NY
The Deste Foundation Centre for Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, NY
The Progressive Art Collection, Cleveland, OH
RISD Museum, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI

Bibliography

2016
Rosenberg, Karen. “Galleries.” The New York Times. 16 Dec 2016. Print.
Smith, Roberta. What to See in New York Art Galleries This Week , The New York Times

2010
Melendez, Franklin. Ara Peterson. New York: Seems, 2010. Print.

2009
Melendez, Franklin. “Ara Peterson’s Tension.” Artslant. Nov. 2009. Web.

2008
Golonu, Berin. “William T. Wiley and Ara Peterson.” Art on Paper. Nov. 2008: 74– 75. Print.

2007
LeBlanc, Marc. “Ara Peterson.” Artillery Sep. 2007: 43. Print.
Diaz, Karla. “Ara Peterson.” Beautiful Decay 2007: 36. Print.
Georgeopoulos, Alexis. “Ara Peterson: Multidimensional Warp.” The San Francisco Bay Guardian 23 May 2007: 41. Print.

2005
Bing, Alison. “Ara Peterson.” SFGate.com Jul. 2005. Web.
Cotter, Holland. “Review.” The New York Times 27 May 2005: B23. Print.
Orden, Abraham. “Jim Drain & Ara Peterson.” artUS Mar. 2005: 17. Print.
Smith, Roberta. “Art in Review: The Jeweleigha Set.” The New York Times 15 Jul. 2005.

2004
Color Wheel Oblivion. Milan, Italy: Marella Arte Contemporanea, 2004. Print. Finkel, Jori. “Front Page: Miami Beach in December: Cool Stuff.” Art in America Dec. 2004. Print.
Nickas, Robert. “GOREFEST 2004.” Vice Magazine 2004: 46. Print.

2003
Honada, Maki. “Anytime Psychedelic.” Studio Voice Sep. 2003: 13. Print. Schwendener, Martha. “Regarding Amy.” Artforum.com Jul. 2003. Web.
Smith, Roberta. “A Grand Finale of Group Show Fireworks.” The New York Times 18 Jul. 2003: B29.
“The Rainbow Men Have Come to the Marunouchi Bldg,” BT Magazine 2003: 10– 11.
Yablonsy, Linda. “Regarding Amy,” Time Out 10 Jul. 2003.